We’re mired in the midst of some pretty depressing news cycles these days, with all sorts of terrible events tearing lives and communities apart. Lots of villains, not enough heroes; lots of tears, not enough hope.
But a ray of light shone through all that when we learned that Howell High School’s Senior Survivor program smashed all records this year, the second in which it raised funds to build an inclusive playground at the Genoa Township Park.
We owe every single person who has ever participated in the Senior Survivor program our deepest gratitude for reminding us year after year what kindness, vision, ingenuity and dedication can accomplish. And this program has accomplished a whole lot, raising a whopping $1 MILLION for various charities since it began in 2008.
But these past two years were something exceptional, indeed: Between raising nearly $230K in 2021 and over $232K this year, the Senior Survivors have raised nearly a HALF-MILLION DOLLARS for the Senior Survivor Playground, which will allow people of all abilities to play together. In addition to that, the playground will consist of natural elements and textures — like logs, stumps, ropes, boulders and plants, which will provide opportunities for individual exploration and discovery, as well as collaborative play.
What began as an idea from a former Howell teacher with a son with a disability — a playground that can be enjoyed by people of all abilities — blossomed into a partnership with Genoa Township, which provided the location, and on May 20, ground was broken, with Senior Survivors from 2021 and 2022 on hand to celebrate their amazing accomplishment.
Here are some photos from the groundbreaking, courtesy of the Howell High School Senior Survivor page on Facebook.
Don’t let the name of the program fool you: it takes more than seniors to raise that kind of dough. The Senior Survivors raise money with an assist from elementary school middle school survivors who raise funds at their schools. And their fundraising efforts reach out into the community far and wide.
I’ll bet there aren’t many in Howell who haven’t been some part of this effort in some way.
These kids — every single one of them — are leaving our community so much better for them being here. The future looks bright, indeed.
Here are the amounts raised by the Howell High School Senior Survivor program over the years, and the charities benefited:
2008 — $5,000 — Mackenzie Watts Scholarship Fund
2009 — $8,535 — Make-A-Wish
2010 — $7,488.32 — C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
2011 — $5,759.46 — Connection Youth Services
2012 — $13,375.52 — ARC of Livingston
2013 — $20,229.36 — Zac Cain Foundation & NAMI
2014 — $27,039.26 — The Rainbow Connection
2015 — $41,212.91 — Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan
2016 — $55,918.31 — Stiggy’s Dogs
2017 — $78,000.35 — American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
2018 — $90,000.01 — LACASA & FARA
2019 — $136,189.46 — North Star Reach & Julianna’s Wishes
2020 — $51,400 — Special Olympics Michigan & United Way Covid-19 Relief
2021 — $229,659.10 — Senior Survivor Inclusive Playground (Year 1)
2022 — $232,369.99 — Senior Survivor Inclusive Playground (Year 2)
You can read our coverage of Senior Survivor over the years by clicking here.
